Spring Hasn’t Sprung Us from the TV or Lap Top

I don’t know about you but I am so grateful that it’s springtime. And I am not just talking about the weather. It’s true that for many parts of the country the 2009-2010 winter season seemed like it would never end, in terms of the snow. But for people of faith, especially practicing Catholics, the storm clouds filled with bad news just kept rolling in and clobbering us from one week to the next. Whether it was the healthcare debacle, dissention and division among within our own flock, or the unwarranted and often biased and badly reported stories attacking the Pope, I feel like the new season gives us chance to shake off all that darkness and negativity and start fresh. Even for those who don’t take their faith all that seriously, given the state of our country with the struggling economy and the political polarization, you would think that most of us would be ready for a change of scenery and much brighter scenery at that.

Not so, according to a new report from the folks at the Nielsen media research firm. We can’t seem to get enough of all of the noise and clamor in our lives, much of which is coming from the mass media. Not only are we spending additional hours inside with our gadgets, we’re using more of them at once. We are now experts at media multi-tasking.

The Nielsen Three Screen Report released in late March shows that many Americans are watching television and surfing the Internet simultaneously. Nearly 60 percent of TV viewers use the Web at the same time. The report for the final quarter of 2009 tracked usage of TV, the Internet, and cell phones found that are talents for media multi-tasking are getting more and more fine-tuned. There was actually a 35 percent hike in the amount of time we used by the television and the Internet compared with numbers gathered for the same period in 2008. It’s good news for the television industry but bad news for those concerned about too much media consumption.

“The rise in simultaneous use of the web and TV gives the viewer a unique on-screen and off-screen relationship with TV programming,” said Nielsen researcher, Matt O’Grady.

O’Grady added that gone are the worries about traditional television viewing being negatively impacted by the Internet and cell phones. Oh joy! TV is still as popular as ever. Americans are taking in about 35 hours of television per week and two hours of what Nielsen refers to as “time-shifted” TV via video recorders. He told Reuters News Service that we’re just madly in love with our media.

“We seem to have an almost insatiable appetite for media, with online and mobile programming only adding to it.”

That quote really bothers me for a number of reasons. The negative news coverage, as I mentioned is one piece of a very distasteful media pie. The amount of violent and sexual content is through the roof with a recent study showing that portrayals of violent acts against women on TV increased 120 percent from 2004 to 2009. We can also point to a long list of studies showing a connection between too much time on the couch and not enough time engaging in some sort of exercise. Whether the movement is on the treadmill downstairs or talking a long walk in the local park, research shows we need a lot more of it for both our physical and mental health. Proverbs 19:15 reminds us that laziness “brings on a deep sleep and the idleness leaves them hungry.” If current media content is any indication, Americans are for the most part starving. Spring may have sprung but unfortunately the bluer skies apparently aren’t going to be enough to get us to back away from the TV and the computer any time soon.

Teresa Tomeo is an author, syndicated Catholic talk show host, and motivational speaker with nearly 30 years of experience in TV, radio and newspaper.

In the year 2000, Teresa left the secular media to start her own speaking and communications company. Many of you remember Teresa from her days in the Detroit media, especially her awarding winning radio work and her many years on Channel 7 and Channel 50.

Teresa’s daily morning radio program, “Catholic Connection”, is produced by Ave Maria Radio in Ann Arbor, and now heard on over 150 Catholic stations nationwide. Her talk show is also carried on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio.

Teresa is a columnist and special correspondent for the national Catholic newspaper, “Our Sunday Visitor”. She appears frequently on EWTN Catholic Television, most recently covering the March for Life in Washington D.C. Teresa has also been featured on “The O’Reilly Factor” and Fox News.

In 2008 Teresa was chosen as only one of 250 delegates from around the world to attend the Vatican Women’s Congress held in Rome marking the 20th Anniversary of John Paul the Second’s Letter entitled “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women.”

As a speaker Teresa travels around the country addressing media awareness and activism, as well as sharing her reversion to the Catholic Church. Her first book, “Noise—How Our Media Saturated Culture Dominates Lives and Dismantles Families”, published by Ascension Press is a Catholic best-seller and now in its second printing. Her second book, “Newsflash! My Surprising Journey from Secular Anchor to Media Evangelist” was published in September of 2008. Teresa has also co-authored a series of best selling Catholic books called “All Things Girl” for tween girls focusing on modesty and chastity.

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"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).